Extraneous Materials

It is a lot more difficult to type on my phone, or tablet!

What I wanted to do was share a couple of fan works I wrote ages ago for The Blue Castle on A03.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/53588257

https://archiveofourown.org/works/50449420

Fancy word time: Munificence is the quality of being extremely generous, liberal, or lavish in giving gifts, favors, or money

Valancy being told that she can't bring any upset or trouble to her mother at such a young age is gutting.

Second Cousin Sara covering up the Venus De Milo is hilariously sad. I don't know why but I always get a kick out of it for sheer silliness..

Some amazing disses here from Valancy she is viciously honest!

Olive with all her beauty and popularity is also limited in the social mores of the day- she went to school but didn't pursue anything after either due to family disapproval or lack of interest. She gave up on a non approved paramour (and probably didn't like the idea of being the subject of lost interest)

Oof I'd zone out too Valancy if I had to hear the same stories over and over again each gathering.

Glad to know that 'boys will be boys' got shut down, killing chickens indeed! What little monsters.

"It is such a fatal mistake to try to be funny if you don’t succeed.” HA Get him Valancy!

Uncle "I don't argue with woman because I'm a weenie" Wellington great rejoinder when you have nothing to back up your opinion on.

Had to look it up but Uncle James' long awaited quote is from Shakespeare 'King John' which looks like a fancier version of "if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's a duck"

Also those are some mighty devastating eyebrows but luckily the dice rolled against Armageddon.

Chapters 7

Eeeshh Mrs. Frederick's outraged silent majesty hits a bit close to home. I've been on the receiving end of that and knowing you're the 'cause' is deeply uncomfortably in a mix of shame, irritation and upset.

Angina pectoris is when the heart doesn't get enough blood or oxygen- today we call it angina. Apparently in 1920 there was the start of surgeries to help cure this:

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/534138

The medication Dr. Trent prescribed was could have been Amyl Nitrate, a British doctor in the late 1800s used it to treat angina pectoris.

Alfred Noble (inventor of dynamite and the Noble prize name sake) also suffered from angina pectoris, and talks about nitroglycerin in a letter (full link: https://www.nobelprize.org/alfred-nobel/alfred-nobels-health-and-his-interest-in-medicine/ )

"… and the English translation (Alfred Nobel abbreviates the word nitroglycerine here, as “N/G 1”): ‘My heart trouble will keep me here in Paris for another few days at least, until my doctors are in complete agreement about my immediate treatment. Isn’t it the irony of fate that I have been prescribed N/G 1, to be taken internally! They call it Trinitrin, so as not to scare the chemist and the public.’

Chapters 3 to 6 Something that I like about Foster's writing about the woods is the idea of meditation and wellness connecting with nature. The idea of giving respect to nature and getting a sense of peace that you can carry with you has to be so comforting to Valancy.

Patching quilts sounds mind numbingly boring and I have the feeling that it's either done in silence or with a running complaint session.

LM's little sly bits of humour are always timed perfectly. Valancy 'catching her death of cold' several times or over,

A glass cupola is a little glass dome on the top of a house. Used properly that would probably make a lovely sun room but I don't think the Stirlings would know comfort if it bit them on the nose.

"About it was the desolate, barren peace of an old house whose life is lived." Can you really live if you've only lived for appearances?

I think we've all had the memory of a unfair bit of blame being put on you or the fear of getting in trouble for something minor.

Ah, the turning point for Valancy! Fear is a cage for her and she's been proven time and time again to be afraid, and worse to have no one to help relieve or understand her fear and give her some encouragement to meet it head on.

Rumours and gossip are a huge part of LM's writing and all the chaotic mess of Barney both being an illegitimate son and dead beat dad with Abel and Cissy are just wild and fitting for a town that has such a small circle of 'important people'

Mr. Pepys might refer to Samuel Pepys, a English writer that apparently kept a daily diary!

L.M. Montgomery has always written loneliness so well. That cold and dismal hour of the day where nothing feels awake and just impossible to look for. Even the sunlight is cold and foreboding. 'A chill and merciless' light bringing another day to Valancy. There's nothing comfortable in her room; from the description of the 'hooked' rug it feels like it would be thick, stiff and uncomfortable to walk on. A yellow painted floor and dark red walls is a awful mix.

Offending an elder/parent and having them sulk for days is a special kind of awful. You know that they're being ridiculous but can't point it out and no amount of logic or understanding can get through.

I have to wonder what sort of books that Valancy was reading while she created her dream princes!

It's telling that the Sterling clan thinks sarcasm is a sign of intelligence..

It is also utterly ridiculous that everyone has to consult with Uncle James and have a family meeting before going to see a doctor. Can't have a stomach ache or a cold sore making the family look bad!

This is so random, sorry,but have you read elizaskys dispatches? It's one of my fav fanfics of ALL TIME across multiple fandoms, and I'd be glad to find someone who's read it and has a favorite part or something haha.

Hi, yes I have! It's a great fanfic and one of my favourites too, it's been awhile since I've read it but some of the best parts are Walter and Anne's letters, Shirley and Carl's love story and the epilogue with Jem and Faith.

It's my 12 year anniversary on Tumblr 🥳